Are you an individual who can not seem to properly manage your schedule? If you are having issues at home or at the workplace, there is a good chance that your problems may be caused by your inability to properly manage your time. The good news, however, is that there are a number of steps that you can take to help your time management.
Here are 8 relatively easy steps that you can take that can help you:
1. Know That You Have a Problem
Knowing that you have a time management problem is the first step in changing your behavior. Although it is typical to be late for work or a social event occasionally, it is something that should not be happening on a daily or a weekly basis. If it is, it is time for you to realize that you may have a problem.
2. Determine To Change
Knowing that you have a time management issue is imperative, but seeking change is even more important. You need to set goals for yourself, as these goals can help provide you with a source of motivation. Sample goals include showing up to the office on time for a whole month, being on time for all dinner dates, and so forth.
3. Stay with Your Goals
Creating a number of time management goals for you to meet is advised, but it is important that you don’t give up right away or when you are faced with complications. Setting goals is not enough, you need to stick with them.
4. Create Daily Task Lists
Creating a to do list for yourself is an easy tool to properly manage your time. In fact, it is one of the easiest approaches that you can take. Go over what you need to do throughout the day. Be sure to list your tasks in order of importance.
5. Rely On Time Management Tools
Properly managing your time is important, but it can be difficult for many individuals to get use to, especially right away. If you are one of those persons, you will want to consider using time management tools to your advantage. In fact, were you aware that most cell phones and computers come with alarm clocks, alerts, calendars, and other time management tools?
6. Learn How To Say No
Truth be known, there are times when you may not be able to refuse a project at work or a task at home, but try to not take on more than you can accomplish. If you must, look into using outside help. In the home (for example), this outside help can come from a housecleaner. At the workplace, this outside help can come from a coworker.
7. Get Organized
Organization is key to being able to properly manage your time. If you are unorganized, you are likely to waste a large amount of time. For example, in the workplace you can waste time by searching for lost or misplaced documents. The same can be said for the home; if you are unorganized, you can spend hours searching for your glasses or car keys.
8. Consider Getting Professional Help
As previously stated, if you are overwhelmed at home, you may want to call on a professional housecleaner. In addition to taking this approach, there are other professionals that you can target. There are individuals and companies who specialize in teaching others how to effectively manage their time and stay organized.
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This is by far one of the most important tasks that we as entrepreneurs have to master on a daily basis. With so many different things begging for our attention, we need to focus on spending our time in the most effective and productive ways possible.
Thanks for these tips John….great stuff
Thanks, John! We all need this reminder here and there. Time management helps us focus our attention on our important goals. Otherwise we can end up spinning our wheels while working on lesser tasks making little progress.
.-= Teresa Ivory´s last blog ..Decisions: What does your heart tell you? =-.
Mahalo (thank you) for sharing your 8 steps to improve your time management John! Very thorough, yet simple to follow article.
Aloha,
Kellie
.-= Kellie Hosaka´s last blog ..7 Essential Characteristics Leading To Success – Charice’s Story =-.
John,
Time management is probably one of the most needed skills for an entrepreneur, especially one who does most of their marketing on-line. I have found that subtle slips in time management can lead to a lot of “busy-ness” with little “business” getting done. You have provided some great tips here to help people stay on track with their goals. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
God Bless,
Krista
.-= Krista Abbott´s last blog ..Communication: The Crucial Component to Your Home, Your Business, Your Life =-.
John,
Perfect… just perfect. Time management can be a beast to tame, especially for certain personalities. You list of identifying points is well outlined and very supportive. However I must note that #6 used to be my nemesis. I’m very grateful for your friendship and personal experience in this area. I will be reviewing this post often!
Ken Pickard
The Network Dad
.-= Ken Pickard´s last blog ..Critical Review of Jonathan Budd’s MLM Launch Formula =-.
Ken,
Time management can be a bear. We all have 24-hours in a day (the rich and poor). We need to be honest with ourselves about prioritizing items and allocating time to our priorities.
I value your comments and friendship.
Blessings,
John
Time management (or self management) is not a hard subject to understand, but unless you are committed to build time management techniques into your daily routine you’ll only achieve partial (or no) results. This results in comments like “I tried time management once and it doesn’t work for me”. The lesson to learn is that the more time we spend planning our time and activities, the more time we will have for those activities. By setting goals and eliminating time wasters and doing this everyday you may find you will have extra time in the week to spend on those people and activities most important to you.
Refugio Roy´s last [type] ..No last blog posts to return.